Franklin Regional students learn about Panther alum's 'augmented reality art'

Christopher Ruane of Murrysville hopes visiting the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg can help inspire Franklin Regional students to pursue a life of creativity.

Ruane’s art keeps him busy nowadays, but it wasn’t always that way.

“When I was in high school, I grew up in a sports-minded family and I didn’t nurture my art as much as I could have,” said Ruane, 39. “It wasn’t until I got out of college that I really realized I could be an artist and make money creating artwork.”

Ruane’s primary area of interest is “augmented reality art,” visual collages that blend everyday elements to create something wholly fantastical. A group of his pieces was recently on display at The Westmoreland, where FR students had a chance to talk with Ruane.

Seventh-grade art students at the middle school will soon have more chances to explore the art world, through a partnership between the district and The Westmoreland. Students will visit the museum four times to view displays and galleries and participate in hands-on workshops with museum personnel.

“My hope is that our middle school students will get to experience all The Westmoreland has to offer and develop an appreciation for American art,” Franklin Regional Middle School art teacher Bruce Palmiscno said.

A prime example of Ruane’s “augmented reality” is his piece, “In Search Of,” which depicts a view — through what appears to be a couple of airplane windows — of divers exploring a completely flooded Downtown Pittsburgh, with fish and other sea creatures swimming around the submerged spires of PPG Place.

Ruane, a 1999 Franklin Regional graduate and owner of Rooz Brews in Murrysville, eventually decided he wanted to go even farther with his art.

“I had to figure out a way to kind of merge the physical world with the virtual work I was making,” he said. “I realized that I needed my own augmented reality app.”

After plenty of late nights learning how to program, Ruane developed the “ARt by Christopher Ruane” app, available for free through the Google Play and Apple stores.

“When you look at my art through the app, it makes the artwork come alive,” he said.

In creating his digital collages, Ruane often stacked layer upon layer of imagery, and those layers take on a life of their own through the app.

Ruane met Palmiscno when Ruane’s work was going on display at the Westmoreland.

“We started talking and kind of hit it off,” Ruane said. “He reached out and brought a group of kids to The Westmoreland, where I got to talk with them about art.”

Using some of The Westmoreland’s iPads equipped with Ruane’s app, the students had a chance to see his art come to life.

“It was nice to be able to encourage them,” Ruane said.

Ruane’s exhibit is no longer at The Westmoreland, but he has a full solo exhibition of all augmented-reality artwork up at Point Park University through March 11.

“Now that I have my own app, it sees my work, recognizes it and tells the different layers in the picture to do what I tell it to do,” he said.